Multiple fishing pole device

ABSTRACT

A fishing device which may be attached to a boat for supporting a plurality of rods in a divergent relation when fishing so that each rod may be independently raised for removal of fish. The device is arranged so that all of the rods may be folded back onto the device in a compact form when it is desired to carry or transport the device. The rods are supported within hinged rod support means spaced along a cross member. The cross member is mounted on a main support member, and the hinges are disposed at an angle to the axis of both the cross member and the main support member.

United States Patent 1 [111 3,772,816

Ridge 1 Nov. 28, W73

7 [54] lilSl-lllKi V g Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene [76] Inventor:Ray H. Ridge, P.O. Box 386, Assistant Exammerfijames Czerwonky nt a 2Attorney-Ralph E. Parker et al.

[22] Filed: Sept. 27, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 292,820 [57] ABSTRACT A fishingdevice which may be attached to a boat for supporting a plurality ofrods in a divergent relation [52] U.S. Cl. 43/2i.2l, 2487/42 whenfishing so that each rod y be independently 3 raised for removal offish. The device is arranged so that all of the rods may be folded backonto the device in a compact form when it is desired to carry ortransport the device. The rods are supported within hinged [56]References Cited rod support means spaced along a cross member. TheUNITED STATES PATENTS cross member is mounted on a main support member,3,159,366 12/1964 Knight 43/212 X and the hinges are disposed at anangle to the axis of 3,385,544 5/1968 Barnett 3,411,231 11/1968Philbrick.... 3,568,352 3/1971 Hill 3,653,617 4/ 1972 Satemus both thecross member and the main support member.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures MULTIPLE FISHING POLE DEVICE The fishingdevice according to the present invention is designed for use on anysmall fishing boat, such as a row boat or the like to permit thefisherman to employ several lines at the same time and thus increase hiscatch and his pleasure. The present device is particularly useful whentrolling or drift fishing as is sometimes customary in certain inlandwaters. It may also be used for still fishing, deep sea fishing and dockfishing. Drift fishing may be carried on by positioning the boat so thatany wind or breeze will cause the boat to drift through the waterwithout the need for an outboard motor or the like, as is used introlling. When used for trolling it is sometimes desirable to use onlyone line and in such case the extra lines may be removed.

According to the present invention several fishing rods are used. Whenone employs this device it is attached to the side or stem of a boat,the fishing rods are extended out over the water and the lines arebaited and run out from the ends of the rods to the desired depth. Whena strike occurs the angler may reel in some of the line if desired andthen raise the fishing rod to a substantially vertical position whichwill place the fish near the side of the boat and within easy reach ofthe angler so that it can be removed from the hook. The hook may then berebaited, and rod lowered to its extended position and the line run outto the desired depth. Thus one angler may easily control three or moreseparate lines independently of each other without moving his positionin the boat, with the minimum of difficulty and without foulingthelines. The device may be secured to the stern of a boat if desired whentrolling or to the side of the boat if desired when drift fishing. I

When fishing is completed, the device may be removed from the boat afterthe rods have been folded back upon the device to make it compact andeasy to carry.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference tothe attached drawings in which, 7

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the device with the fishing rods in an extendeddivergent position for fishing,

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the device shown in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device with the rods folded back in acompact position for ease in transporting the device.

With reference to FIG. 1, a main central support member is shown at 1. Aclamp member 3 is attached to the underside of the main support 1 forsecuring the device to the side or stem of a boat such as a rowboat orother small fishing boat as at 2. The main support 1 is preferably madeof wood, plastic or a light weight metal, such as aluminum, or otherrelatively light weight substantially rigid material. The clamp 3 may berigidly fixed to the support 1 by a pin 4 or may be pivotally mountedthereto for purposes to be explained later.

The clamp may be secured to the edge of the boat by, for example, athumb screw 3, as shown in FIG. 2. A hand grip 5 may be provided at theinner end of the support 1 for ease in handling the device. A reelsupport member 6 is attached to the support 1 on the underside thereof,as shown, or on top of the support 1. The member 6 extends transverselyof the axis of the support 1 and conventional reels or spinners 7 and 8are attached thereto adjacent the ends thereof. The support 6 may belonger than as shown to accommodate additional reels if desired whenadditional rods are employed. The reel support 6 is located between theclamp 3 and the hand grip 5 and is thus disposed inside the boat whenthe device is mounted thereon. An additional reel 9 may be mounted onthe main support member 1 when a central rod is employed as shown in thedrawings. It will be understood that the relative po sitions of the reel9 and the reel support member 6 may be reversed if desired. As shown theaxes of the reels 7 and 8 are disposed at a slight angle to the axis ofthe main support 1 so as to avoid sharp bends in the fishing line as itpasses to the fishing rods. The axes of reels 7 and 8 may be disposedparallel to the axis of support 1 if desired. Instead of the spinnertype reels as shown, conventional reels may also be used.

A transverse cross member 10 is attached to the support member 1adjacent the outer end thereof and outside the clamp 3 so as to bedisposed outside of the boat when the device is mounted thereon. Rodsupport members 11 and 12 are mounted at the ends of the cross member 10and a third rod support member 13 is mounted at the end of the mainsupport 1. Each of the rod support members are provided with means forreleasably holding a fishing rod. As shown in the drawings the rodsupport members are provided with holes for frictionally engaging therod to hold it in position. Alternatively if desired, any other meansfor releasably holding a rod may be used. Also sleeves of differentdiameters to accommodate rods of different diameters may be provided forinsertion into the holes in the rod support members.

The rod supports 11 and 12 are hingedly mounted at the ends of the crossmember 10 so that the fishing rods can be raised from their extendeddivergent positions as shown in FIG. 1, first to a'vertical position aspreviously explained, and then folded backwards onto the device forcompactness in transporting the device. As shown best in FIGS. 1 and 3the axes of the hinges 17 and 18 for the rod support members 11 and 12respectively are disposed at an angle to the axis of the cross memberand also at an angle other than normal to the axes of the fishing rodssupported by the rod support members. These angles are determined sothat the fishing rods 14 and 15 will, when extended for fishing, be atsubstantial diverse angles to the axis of the main support member 1. Asshown the rods extend at an angle of about 45, although other angles maybe employed, such as 30 or or intermediate angles. The latter angles maybe employed when more than two diversely arranged fishing rods are to bemounted on the cross member 10, such as two on each side of thesupport 1. The axis of the hinge 19 for the rod support member 13 ispreferably disposed at right angles to the axis of the main support 1.The axes of the hinges 17 and 18 as seen best in FIGS. 1 and 3, aredisposed at an angle of about 30 to the axis of the cross member 10 andat about 15 to a normal to the axes of the fishing rods in the rodsupport members 11 and 12. It will be understood that these angles mayvary somewhat depending upon the length of the fishing rods employed,the desired angle when extended, the desired angle when folded back aswell as the length of the cross member 10 and its position on mainsupport 1. However, as shown in the drawings, the hinges 17 and 1% willcause the fishing rods to assume an angle of about 15 with the axis ofthe main support member 1 when they are folded back as shown in FIG. 3.As shown the rods will cross the main support 1 at a point adjacent thehand grip 5. If desired, the angles of the hinges 17 and 18 may be suchas to cause the rods, when folded back, to intersect at a point furtherinward along the axis of the support 1 or even near the tips of the rods11, 12 and 13. In this manner the rods when folded back will assume acompact form for transport and will be far less likely to catch or snagon surrounding obstructions while being carried.

When used the device is fastened to the side or ste of a boat by theclamp 3 and the rods 14, 15 and 16 are extended out over the water. Thefishing line is passed from the reels 7, 8 and 9 first through eyelets11a, 12a and 13a respectively and then through the conventional eyeletsprovided on the fishing rods. The line is then adjusted to the desireddepth for fishing. When there is a strike the line may be reeled in partway if necessary and the tip of the rod may be easily raised by rotatingthe rod upwardly about the hinge until it is substantially verticalwhereby the fish will be swung over the boat and is thus easilyaccessible for removal from the hook. Any conventional resilient detentmeans may be used to hold the rod in the vertical position. The hook isthen rebaited, the rod lowered to its extended position and the line letout as desired. With a plurality of rods, such as the three shown in thedrawings, one fisherman can very easily increase his catch withoutrunning into such difficulties as fouled lines and without the need fortaking excessive time to bring in the fish, rebait the hook and set theline out again.

When the main support 1 is pivotally secured to the boat by clamp 3 theentire device may be pivoted, as desired, so that one of the outermostrods may be brought near the side of the boat and thus facilitatelanding larger fish.

As stated above the precise angles of the axes of the hinges may bevaried, and indeed should be varied depending on the dimensions andlocations of various parts of the device as stated above. As shown inthe drawings, the rods when extended for fishing form an angle ofapproximately 45 with the axis of the main support member 1, and theaxes of hinges 17 and 18 are approximately 30 to the axis of the crossmember and are also at an angle of approximately 60 with the axis of themain support 1. Thus the rods when extended are at an angle of about toa normal to the axis of the hinge, and when folded for carrying are atan angle of about 15 to the axis of the main support. Clearly if alonger cross member 10 is employed, possibly for mounting additional rodsupport members, or if longer rods are employed, or if a longer mainsupport member is used, the angles of the axes of the hinges should bealtered accordingly so that the rods will, when extended, take thedesired divergent positions and when folded will form a compactarrangement for transport. Also it will be understood that the centerfishing rod 16 shown in the drawings may be eliminated if desired sothat an even number of rods, say four, spaced from the axis of and onopposite sides of the main support may be used instead of the three asshown. In this case all the rod support members will be attached to thecross member by angled hinges in the manner shown for rod supportmembers 11 and 12. When more rods are to be used, it will be clear thatthe length of the reel support member 6 might have to be increased toaccommodate the extra reels to prevent conflict with the operation ofthe other reels.

What is claimed is:

1. A multiple pole fishing device comprising a main support member,means for removably attaching said support member to a boat, a crossmember secured to and extending transversely of the outer portion ofsaid main support member, a plurality of rod support means located inspaced relation along said cross member, each rod support means beingprovided with an opening for removably receiving a fishing rod, reelsupport means secured to the main support member, hinge means forhingedly mounting each of said rod support means on said cross member topermit each rod to be lifted to a vertical position and folded back ontothe device when desired, the axis of each hinge means being at an angleto the axis of said cross member and to the axis of said main supportmember such that said rod support means will position the fishing rodoutwardly and divergently while fishing at a substantial angle to theaxis of the main support member, and, when folded back upon the mainsupport member for easy transport, the fishing rods will form asubstantially lesser angle with the axis of the main support member.

2. A fishing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said rod support meansmay have openings of different size for receiving rods of differentdiameters.

3. A fishing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein two rod support meansare provided, each at one end of said cross member.

4. A fishing device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the rod support meanssupport fishing rods, when extended, at an angle of about 45 to the axisof the main support member and, when folded, at an angle of about 15 tothe axis of the main support member.

5. A fishing device as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising reelsmounted on said reel supporting means in spaced relation on both sidesof said main support member, the axes of said reels being at an angle tothe axis of said main support member.

6. A fishing device as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising acentral rod support means hingedly mounted on the outer end of said mainsupport member for supporting a central fishing rod coextensively withsaid main support member.

7. A fishing device as claimed in claim 6 and further comprising a reelmounted on said main support member for use with said central fishingrod.

1. A multiple pole fishing device comprising a main support member, means for removably attaching said support member to a boat, a cross member Secured to and extending transversely of the outer portion of said main support member, a plurality of rod support means located in spaced relation along said cross member, each rod support means being provided with an opening for removably receiving a fishing rod, reel support means secured to the main support member, hinge means for hingedly mounting each of said rod support means on said cross member to permit each rod to be lifted to a vertical position and folded back onto the device when desired, the axis of each hinge means being at an angle to the axis of said cross member and to the axis of said main support member such that said rod support means will position the fishing rod outwardly and divergently while fishing at a substantial angle to the axis of the main support member, and, when folded back upon the main support member for easy transport, the fishing rods will form a substantially lesser angle with the axis of the main support member.
 2. A fishing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said rod support means may have openings of different size for receiving rods of different diameters.
 3. A fishing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein two rod support means are provided, each at one end of said cross member.
 4. A fishing device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the rod support means support fishing rods, when extended, at an angle of about 45* to the axis of the main support member and, when folded, at an angle of about 15* to the axis of the main support member.
 5. A fishing device as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising reels mounted on said reel supporting means in spaced relation on both sides of said main support member, the axes of said reels being at an angle to the axis of said main support member.
 6. A fishing device as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising a central rod support means hingedly mounted on the outer end of said main support member for supporting a central fishing rod coextensively with said main support member.
 7. A fishing device as claimed in claim 6 and further comprising a reel mounted on said main support member for use with said central fishing rod. 